Keith Burstein claimed he was defamed by an Evening Standard review of his opera, Manifest Destiny, which said it made suicide bombers appear heroic.

Burstein, who claimed the review implied he was sympathetic to suicide bombers, lost his libel claim in the UK more than three years ago, with the court of appeal accepting the Evening Standard's argument that the piece was fair comment. The European Court of Human Rights has now declined to consider the case.

In a statement to Burnstein's barrister, Abdurahman Jafar, the court said: "In the light of all the material in its possession, and in so far as the matters complained of were within its competence, the court found that they did not disclose any appearance of a violation of rights and freedoms set out in the convention or its protocols."

"I took the case to Europe but in Europe you have to prove your human rights have been breached and my submission claimed that the denial of a jury trial breached my human right to a fair trial," Burstein told MediaGuardian.co.uk.

"The judge examining the case has decided there was no 'appearance of violation of rights'. I do not know why this decision was reached and no reasons are given.

"However, I was warned prior to Europe that in Europe there is not the reverence we have in the UK for jury trial and nor are the libel laws as robust as in the UK.

"Therefore once the court of appeal had closed off the jury trial awarded by the high court and the case was left only to Europe as last port of call the chances were always slim."

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